Alcatel-Lucent Introduces Innovative Breakthrough in Optical Routing Technology3/30/2015 - Beginning in the 1990's, Internet speeds were measured in kilobytes - those were the days in which the dread buffering wheel kept spinning for what seemed an eternity. And as the speed continued to get faster, with each successive evolution more demand was placed on the infrastructure designed to deliver services. This has led telecoms, data centers and other service providers to start abandoning legacy copper cable systems and opt for optical technology. As the adoption continues to grow, Alcatel-Lucent has announced an innovation that will give operators more flexibility and agility in the deployment of new optical transport networks with a new optical routing technology.

New Celtic-Plus Project Explores Cost-effective Broadband Access Based on G.fast Standard3/24/2015 - The term "fast track" is one that is particularly relevant these days. This is particularly true on two fronts. The first is getting customers onto faster pipes and the second concerns speeding innovative technologies into the market. In the case of G.fast, the latest standard for providing broadband speeds over existing copper access plant, the goals now are to increase the speeds supported, overcome some performance challenges and accelerate how to get the speeds for reliably sending digital information over copper to multi-gigabit capabilities.

Etisalat and Alcatel-Lucent to Give UAE Customers Greater Control over Their Services3/23/2015 - One of the emerging trends in both fixed and wireless services is the use by service providers of network information to enable their customers to have visibility and better control over their services. From being more proactive about security to managing data plans, the use of such network-based information is a win-win. Network operators win from having better information about what is going on in their networks so they can better manage the customer experience on a variety of fronts. At the same time, as noted, customers win by being able to manage a key monthly expense item. Plus, they can do so in real-time and without the need for making a call to get the information.

Bell Labs 2015 ICT Disruption Prize Competition Opens3/11/2015 - For those of us in the Northeastern part of the U.S., it has been a challenging winter. Fortunately, spring is around the corner and warmer weather is upon us. And, with the coming of spring is what is becoming an annual next generation communications industry event, the opening of the Bell Labs Prize competition. This is an unusual opportunity for global researchers to have the chance to introduce their ideas to the world, and collaborate with Bell Labs researchers.

Bell Labs Chief sees Multiservice Operator Future as Partly Cloudy1/19/2015 - It is that time of the year to get the predictions from noted industry experts about their visions of both the near and longer term future. That said it is never a bad time to get the views of Bell Labs President and Alcatel-Lucent Chief Technology Officer Marcus Weldon. In fact, unlike the triumvirate of Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, who back in 1995 co-authored the book "The Road Ahead" with Nathan Mythrvold and journalist Peter Rinearson, Weldon has chosen to outline his vision in three recent TechZine blog posts under the title, "MSO network forecast is partly cloudy." And, when Marcus talks, it is certainly worth a listen, or at least in these cases a read and a few bookmarks.

Defeating the Overwhelming Complexity Constraint12/2/2014 - This marks the third in my four-part series on the three constraints (aka "3Cs") marketing taxonomy presented at the recently concluded Alcatel-Lucent 2014 Technology Symposium. In the first two parts of this series I examined the 3Cs from a high level in terms of its overall simplicity for explaining the challenges faced by service providers in getting from the constrained world in which they operate to one of a ubiquitously available, high-performance and secure broadband future that was both adaptable to changing market demands and capable of providing new and profitable services efficiently and effectively.

Overcoming the Limited Connectivity Constraint11/24/2014 - One of the highlights for the recently concluded Alcatel-Lucent 2014 Technology Symposium was the presentation by the company of its new messaging taxonomy. It is centered on overcoming what Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) sees as the three constraints (aka "3Cs") that are currently major challenges for service provides in a world facing a tsunami of data traffic which is increasingly unpredictable.

New Routing Platform Provides Competitive Edge11/24/2014 - The recent announcements from Alcatel-Lucent of the expansion of their IP Edge Routing solutions platforms, which include virtualized IP Edge Service Routers and the compact hardware-based 7750-a, already have the industry buzzing. These are seen not just as giving Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) the ability to give their service provider customers the ability to be better competitors, but also have caught the attention of industry observers who are looking anew at ALU as a threat to the major players in the routing business.

Bell Labs President Marcus Weldon Outlines Network 2020 Vision11/19/2014 - The main thrust of the vision of the network we will be using by 2020 according to Weldon is that thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices-personal and IoT related-the world will be always on and always connected as well as wireless and cloud-centric. As he explained, the network of the near future will see a proliferation of small cells to achieve high-performance networking ubiquity, and that enabling this ubiquity and leveraging the fixed-line network at the backbone for cloud-centric feature functionality is "the only answer".

Marketing Matters: Three Cs Support the Alcatel-Lucent Shift Plan11/12/2014 - Since Michel Combes became the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent in 2013, attention has centered on his creation and implementation of The Shift Plan. This is the initiative to reposition Alcatel-Lucent from a telecommunications equipment generalist to an industrial specialist in IP networking, ultra-broadband access (mobile and fixed) and cloud technologies, at the heart of next-generation networks. The focus rightly has been on the restructuring of assets, technology and people, while the company's marketing efforts, which are also a major part of the shift, have been in the background. Alcatel-Lucent has opened a new chapter of The Shift Plan focused on innovation, transformation and growth.

Nuage Networks Extends SDN Benefits to Branch Offices11/12/2014 - At the 2014 Alcatel-Lucent Technology Symposium a central theme is that transformational technology for data centers in the form of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) are not just the promise for the future, but are realities.

Alcatel-Lucent Virtualizes Entire IP Edge Routing Portfolio in Key NFV Acceleration Move11/12/2014 - For those of us of a certain generation we can all remember the start of the TV show, Fantasy Island. In every episode the character Tattoo, played by Herve Villechaize, would run up the island's main bell tower to ring the bell and shout, "The plane! The plane!" The announcement at the 2014 Alcatel-Lucent Technology Symposium, that the company has upped the ante in the critical Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) space with its new Virtualized Service Router (VSR), makes that declaration about the plane, the plane timely.

Accenture & Alcatel-Lucent Form A-Team For Ultra-Broadband9/30/2014 - The rise of video conferencing alone would signal that more bandwidth in the wider market might become necessary at some point, but video conferencing-as big a market as that alone is proving to be-is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to demands on bandwidth. Streaming video for entertainment, online gaming, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and similar tools all mean one thing: customers will be using quite a bit more in bandwidth for the foreseeable future. That combination of factors is bringing together a new combination, as Accenture and Alcatel-Lucent are getting together to provide better solutions to the growing broadband crunch.

Alcatel-Lucent's Kindsight Malware Report Reveals Spying and Personal Info Theft on the Rise9/5/2014 - As if all of the data breaches of the past few days (JPMorgan Chase, Apple, Home Depot and Goodwill Industries just to name a few) were not enough, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is out with one of my favorite reports on online security. Yes, the ALU Kindsight Security Labs Malware Report - H1 2014 (click here to download), is hot off the presses, and not surprising the news is not so good for us users. In fact, this is particularly true for us when we are using our personal devices in personal rather than business mode.

VoLTE has Edge for Superior Real-Time Voice finds Signals Research Group Study8/25/2014 - As almost all analysis currently shows, the race is on globally by mobile operators to deploy 4G LTE networks for a variety of competitive and financial reasons. In fact, not the least of these, along with having a next generation infrastructure to serve as a more efficient and effective platform for a host of new multiple media services, is the attractiveness of VoLTE (Voice over LTE).

Bell Labs Prize for 'Inventing the Future' to Ignite Innovation from NextGen Researchers5/21/2014 - Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent, is arguably the most globally recognized and revered name in the tech world. Its list of breakthroughs is far too long for publication here, as is the list of awards and recognition (including 12 Nobel Prize laureates). As part of marking the 50th anniversary of the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation, one of the strongest pieces of evidence supporting the "Big Bang" theory of the origin of the universe, Bell Labs in a form of giving back to the community and paying it forward introduced the Bell Labs Prize. If you are a young researcher you need to take note.

Alcatel-Lucent Report Shows Mobile Apps' Impacts on Networks, Batteries and Data Plans4/30/2014 - There can be little doubt as the world becomes ever more mobility-centric and we rely on our personal devices and all of those applications almost around the clock, that all of the mobile usage has consequences. It impacts service providers, device manufacturers and app developers, and most importantly both our user experiences and our wallets.

New Book Highlights Challenges of Assuring User Service Quality in the Cloud3/24/2014 - With seemingly "E"verything moving to the cloud, a significant amount of attention has been paid to what can, and should, be moved - when, where, why, how and by whom. However, not much has been written about the challenges associated with the actual user experience posed by moving information and apps from a dedicated resource to a shared one. After all, many of the benefits of cloud from scalability to availability to cost savings are rooted in increased sharing. However, with sharing comes the potential for service degradation caused by latency, packet loss, jitter and a host of other issues.

Alcatel-Lucent Highlights What's Next at Mobile World Congress3/4/2014 - One of the nice things about being the content editor of the Next Generation Communications Community is having a catbird seat on industry developments. However, even better is attending industry events where one can kick the tires, talk with subject matter experts during demos and stay current with breaking news. Such was the case in my visit to Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), where I had the opportunity of spending quality time with community host Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). And, in keeping with MWC's theme for this year, "What's Next," there was a lot to see and discuss.

Alcatel-Lucent's NFV Solutions Accelerating Mobile Networks Move to the Cloud2/19/2014 - While the announcements are being made to coincide with MWC, this is not just about mobile but is also about how NFV is going to help service providers with fixed-line/mobile convergence. Service providers around the world are looking to create seamless ecosystems that customers never leave. NFV, which will also enable operators to use one user profile regardless of how they access a network, is a critical piece of the puzzle to entice users to use evolving quadruple play capabilities.

Service Providers Need to Up Their Customer Experience Game2/11/2014 - Service providers need to proactively tackle customer concerns or profits and the customers themselves are history. In short, customer experience management is crucial for service providers—and it starts with having a better grasp of what is going on in customers’ networks.

Small Cells are the Path to Ubiquitous Ultra-Broadband12/23/2013 - We live in what I have characterized as "The Age of Acceleration." It is a time when the only things we can take as constant in the tech world are change and the increased speed at which things are changing. It impacts every aspect of how we work and live.

Alcatel-Lucent Metro Cell Express Site Certification Program to Speed Small Cell Deployment12/3/2013 - The speed at which small cells have gone from being interesting ways for mobile service providers to increase network reach, provide high-performance coverage in dense traffic areas and serve as a platform for new news to necessities has been nothing short of breathtaking. In just a few short years, the explosion of personal devices, and demands for bandwidth-hungry data services like video along with the growth of social media have made getting wireless broadband as close to the customer with a superior user experience a financial and competitive imperative. Small cells are the answer.

The Shifts are On! Alcatel-Lucent Explains Industry Changes and Its Repositioning11/25/2013 - This is the reorganization roadmap put forth by new CEO Michel Combes aimed at turning Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) from equipment generalist into specialists in key growth markets including Ultra-broadband, software defined networks (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV), and all things relating to next generation wireless.